I have really enjoyed writing this blog over the past 3 years.  And I may yet return here later, but for now I have to take a break and focus on building my leadership and personal develop blog.  At a point where I am ready to take my business to the next level and part of that requires discipline and focus to achieve my goals.  If you’ve wandered here looking for the personal development blog, then click here.  If you’ve met me in a pub on the trail somewhere and we got to talking about life, literature and everything and I directed you here, then enjoy the content that is here.  It’s not good-bye; it’s simply farewell until next time.

Clay

How this plays itself out for me is that most of us are unaware of the past experiences that control or influence our present behavior. Our innate tendency is to act habitually. This is a useful trait to make our lives more efficient, but it can have negative effects if the particular habit we have formed limits us. Some habits we develop all on our own. Others habits we pick up from our parents, teachers, priests, or other persons or sources of influence. Habits can become so ingrained that we no longer question their origin, we just accept the act as being who we are, as our nature, much in the same way we don’t question our breathing. We just do it. Or walking, we had to learn how to walk, now we just do it. So to that extent, I do believe our past experiences determine who we are and what is possible for us now.

For example, for some of us who claim not to be good at maths, we perhaps got a few bad marks on our maths tests back in the early days of our education. Based on these few bad marks, we start telling ourselves that we are no good at maths. We habitually tell ourselves this until the statement becomes fact and that fact becomes a belief. Then we go into our next encounter with maths believing we are no good at maths, do poorly on at it, and take that as evidence to confirm that we are not good at maths.

If I adopt this belief that I am not good at maths early on in my life, then chances are I will make decisions about my future based on the “fact” that I am no good at maths and steer away from careers or projects that involve maths. From my past experiences I now say, “I am no good at maths.” How that limits what is possible for me now is I stay away from opportunities that would require lots of math. To the extent that I am unaware of this limiting belief born of past experiences, the more control it exerts over me.

Make a list of all the things you find yourself habitually saying, I am no good at that. Or I could never do that because…

Now think back to what experiences you’ve had in the past that has led you to adopt that belief. No examine how that belief defines who you are and limits the possibilities available to you.

When our experiences become restricting “truths” they are, as Jack Elias, the noted hypnotherapist states, “no longer models over which we have power as creators; rather they have power over us as our ‘definers’.”

What are you must desirous of?  Put another way, what is it that you want most?  Now ask yourself how much do you really want it?  Here’s a story about Socrates that may help you clarify how much you want it.

A young man asked Socrates how he could get wisdom.

Socrates replied: “Come with me.”  He took the young man to a nearby river and shoved his head under the water.  He held it there until the boy struggled for air, then he let him go.

The boy took a moment to compose himself.  Socrates then asked the boy:  “What did you desire most when your head was underwater?”

“I wanted air,” replied the boy.

Socrates nodded:  “When you want wisdom as much as you wanted air when you were immersed in the water, you will receive wisdom.”

In the same way, when you want what you say you want most as much as you want air to breathe, then you will get the thing you desire.

Rock on Socrates.

Yeah, we’re fucked.  Our civil liberties, if ever we had any, are on the verge of being stripped right from underneath our noses. The Home Office is hell bent on pushing a piece of legislation through that will allow 653 governmental offices to have access to every phone call, text message, email, and website we visit.  Agencies like the police, local councils, the Financial Service Authority, the ambulance service, fire authorities and even prison governors.

What’s really insidious about this gig is that these folks will not require the permission of a judge or magistrate to get our information.  All they’ll need is permission from a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head at a local authority.

The “government” says it needs this kind of easy access to help fight terrorism.  Please!  That old chestnut!

They, and I’m using ‘they’ deliberately because there doesn’t seem to be any names associated with the ‘they’ in government who are pushing so hard to strip our liberties away.

The Home Office did a six month consultation to find out if they had any support for this idea.  Only a third of the respondents approved.  50 percent of the folks believed that the scheme lacked sufficient protection against the abuse of our personal data that these yahoos would have access to.

This new level of access would fall under the foul Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) or as I call it, the Rest in Peace all of our privacy Act.  Communications companies will be forced to keep all of our emails, phone calls, and every web click for a year.  And guess who has to pay for all of this?  Yes that’s right – Us, to the tune of £2 billion over 10 years.

There are a couple of sane people in government who are opposing this move vocally.  Chris Grayling has been quoted as saying “The big danger in all of this is ‘mission creep’.  This government keeps on introducing new powers to tackle terrorism and organised crime which end up being used for completely different purposes.  We have to stop that from happening.”

To give you an idea of what it would be like to have your information out there in the open, I pilfered someone’s mobile and this is what I found:

Bob: so what have you been up to today?

Sue: well….sending you emails…reading some Keats letters!! No idea how I ended up there…but i did…an unplanned interruption…reading some book about how to teach your dog new tricks…called management and organisational behaviour!!

Bob:  keats as in john keats? one of my favorite poets

Sue:  it seems if you give your dog – errrr – workforce treats they perform better

Bob:  will you be able to teach me some new tricks?

Sue:  what do you want to learn?!!

Bob:  hmmmm… dangerous question

Sue:  mmmm, yes.

Ok there is no Bob and Sue, but you get the point.  Our private conversations are at their mercy, whoever they are.  You would hope that they would use our private information responsibly, but what guarantees do we have?  Who will be watching the watchmen?

Now the thing is I think there is no end to the amount of people who talk about personal growth, who talk about not living life in the comfort zone.  I’ll hold my hand up and say that I  too have been guilty of loitering in the comfort zone, which is why this passage probably struck such a cord with me this morning.  Although I am a cautious man, I have never been known as someone who doesn’t like pushing the edge, but lately, I have been sitting back in the comfort zone with my feet up, six pack in hand, and the beer belly to show for it.  But they say it only takes the right passage at the right time to change the course of your life.

Now where did I put my sword?

I have existed from the morning of the world, and I shall exist until the last star falls from the heavens.  Although I have taken the form of Clay Lowe, I am all men, as I am no man – and so, I am a God. – Clay Lowe 2.0

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here…

I’ve been in hermit mode for a week, venturing out of my cave only for the essentials – food, water, and the gym. This time around in the cave, I’ve been studying the nature of power. I’ve spent time with Machiavelli and his famous analysis of statesmanship and power, The Prince. I’ve spent time with Robert Greene and his books The 48 Laws Of Power
and The 50th Law. I’ve also spent time analyzing power at play in current events such as the Afghanistan question, U.S. Presidential politics, the Tory maneuverings as they get set to assume the power position in Britain, and something closer to home – how a few clever people are maneuvering to raise income tax and take away child benefits among other things from the middle class (middle class in their estimation being someone who earns £15, 000 or more). I say clever, but maybe I should say devious instead because the bill is being introduced in such a way as to create a dilemma. The argument goes: the UK Government is broke. If we don’t raise this money, then you will start to see schools without electricity, medical services reduced etc. In my mind I’m thinking, the banks still owe us billions of pounds, yet they are paying out billions in bonuses. Why not have the banks put this bonus money into the public coffers? The banks seemed happy enough for the public to bail them out of financial difficulty. Why not repay the favor? In fact, they still OWE us money. So WTF?

In other news, I’ve written a treatment for a screenplay to which I am seeking funding for through the film council. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

From a poet to her Internet lover:

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways. I’ll get my husband to eat horny goat weed and promise him sex in the woods.  Once there, I’ll slash his throat and stab him in the chest.  Then we can run away together.

That’s what Joanna Hale did to her husband Peter.  She was found guilty today by jury.

I know poets are suppose to be passionate, but this is passion on crack.

A young lady of 15 has written a letter to the local paper. She is lamenting about the rampant sexism in her school. She says she often hears “lads saying how amazing a girl’s behind is or her breasts.” She is quick to add that she is being polite in her description of the boys’ actual words. She wants to know “How can men treat girls as meat?” In her world “It is quite obvious that any dignified girl or woman will never set foot near a guy who is obsessed with her chest and can’t keep his eyes off her behind.”

It is odd that her letter raging against sexism should appear just below a picture of a Vivitar movie camera advert with a young blond girl holding the camera while sitting on the floor in just her underwear. I like to read about the latest gadgets. Isn’t it funny that a magazine that is 100% about gadgets has, on every single cover, a picture of a beautiful young lady in a swimsuit? Well perhaps not funny, but certainly a commentary on the use of sex to sell products to men. We seem to have a switch that regulates our rational thinking and diverts the energy elsewhere at the sight of an attractive woman. The less she is wearing, the more we revert back to being like our simian primate cousins.

Our young lady goes on to ridicule the boys she hears utter childish words like: “I’d tap that.” She goes on to wonder why her school does nothing to promote the fair treatment of women. “I suppose it can’t exactly be taught. Guys just need to grow up,” she concludes.

I would like to tell her that we will grow up, but I know that we won’t. In every man there is an adolescent boy trapped inside and a ranging simian wanting to get out. You need only play fly on the wall to any group of men, regardless of class or status, and let a beautiful young lady walk by, and you will hear the men groan, “man I’d like to tap that.” If they don’t say it with their voice, they will say it with their eyes.

The headlines in the British press over the past week have been fixated on President Obama’s upcoming decision on Afghanistan. What should he do – send more troops or look for an honorable way to get out? Perhaps President Obama should turn to the words of a former president – John Quincy Adams – for counsel. J.Q.A. had this to say about American entanglement in foreign affairs: ‘…she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy…She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom…She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit….’

Barbara Ehrenreich has a new book out that addresses this issue called Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America She was compelled to write the book because of the deluge of positive psychology she received after finding out she had breast cancer in 2000.  She said all that shiny optimism was “like sitting in a warm bubble bath for too long.”  You can read the full interview of her here.

I like to think that my approach to the industry is more about challenging people to think for themselves and in doing that, to focus on what they can do and what they do want and not the opposite.  And maybe my thinking is left over from the “can do” attitude the army instills in you, or from my mother who beat it into me that “if you want something, go get it. Period!”

It wasn’t until I got a job in sales that I drifted away from an active interest in news and world affairs.  Most of the positive psychology books discourage paying attention to the news.  The news headlines were deemed to negative to be consumed by minds in active pursuit of a positive mental attitude.  And so I drifted away from world affairs, politics, and history.

So this week as I submerged myself in news via the press, radio, TV and the Internet, I began to rediscover a lost love.  And I fear, like Pandora’s Box, I have let loose a terrible and great evil into my world and I don’t think I can put it back.  To paraphrase an old army cadence: I like it.  I love it. I want more of it. Make it hurt, drill sergeant, make it hurt!

On the drive to Borders I ran through the various subjects that have interested me in the past.  Philosophy, spirituality, culture, politics, and outdoor adventures are topics that generally occupy my attention .  I told myself that I would open my mind in Borders and see what other subjects might attract me without much forethought.

I picked up a few titles I have not read nor seen before like:  Adbusters, which bills itself as an activist toolkit.  The theme for this month’s issue is Thought Control in Economics.  I’ve never considered myself much of an activist, but the articles looked like I might learn something interesting.  Index on Censorship was the next title and it’s central question for the month is: Time for a Revolution?  I personally think it is time for a revolution, if not in the world, then in mind and body.  I thought I had run away from matters of spirituality, but the Buddhist Review, Tricycle caught my attention and reminded me of why I am attracted to Zen philosophy.  The articles are thoughtful and not airy-fairy.  Enlightenment Next, the magazine for evolutionaries was the next title that grabbed my attention with the headline reading: The Evolving Faces of God.  The voices of many of the leading popular spiritual leaders and gurus are in here.  The articles are well written even if some are a bit obtuse.  Next I wandered over to business and current affairs and found The Intelligent Life which is a title put out by The Economist and covers life, culture, and style in an intelligent, grown-up manner.  It’s like a lad mag for mature men (the cover doesn’t sport any half-naked sex goddesses). The writing style is heavy and intellectual, much like you would find in The Economist.  And then when I arrived back home the latest copy of Philosophy Now was waiting for me in the mail.  The cover story is existentialism and culture.

After an hour or so of browsing it seems my interests are indeed spirituality, philosophy, politics, and culture.  I did spend some time browsing the outdoor adventure mags, and techno-geek stuff, but none of those titles inspired me to part with any cash.  I was surprised that I didn’t spend any time in the travel section.

Back at the ranch, I got a last minute call from Ed asking me if I wanted to go see Pandorum with him and Rich.  After checking with the boss, I agreed.

Pandorum is a pure sci-fi action film.  It’s kind of like a mix of Alien, Descent, and Fight Club.  It’s a good film if you like your action flicks to be heavy on action and light on dialogue.

I believe what they are really asking for is guaranteed success. Before they are willing to begin, they want someone (God, the Universe, Madam Golda) to look into the future and tell them that if they go for the thing they want, they will definitely get it and it will be just as they dreamed it would be and life will be wonderful. Without this guarantee, they refuse to act.

I’ve been down this road myself, sticking with the safe option, the perceived ‘sure thing’, the steady paycheck. All the while watching one day bleed into the next and wistfully dreaming about ‘someday.’

I don’t know if you know the story of Liz Murray, the lady who went from being homeless on the streets of New York City to attending Harvard and becoming a successful international speaker, author, and life coach. Their is a movie out about her life called Homeless to Harvard. All the odds were stacked against her. She had only a grade school education. She was living on the streets and being raised by two drug addicted parents.

But she wanted a better life. To get it, she knew she had to give up the if-this-then-that mentality. She said: “Before I had my transformation, I always had this illusion I call if-this-then-that. If I find a quiet place place, then I’ll study. If I get some more cash, then I’ll go to school. We do that when there is no real commitment to a goal. We’re saying ‘I’m committed unless…’”

She goes on to say there is a big difference between ‘I’m committed unless’ and absolute commitment. Absolute commitment means you’ll do whatever it takes. No excuses! No waiting for permission to act. No waiting for someday. No waiting for absolute guarantees.

To begin, you have to begin with absolute faith. Let go of the if-this-then-that mentality. This reminds me of a story Joseph Campbell, the late 20th century philosopher and mythology expert, told of a Native American father’s advice to his son: “As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump! It is not as wide as you think.”

Are you standing on the edge of a chasm?

Take a good look at it.

Now jump!